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WOAH Training

My Brittany is a little over a year old now and is coming along great. I am very fortunate to have gotten a great instinctive hunter. I started some very basic whoa training about two weeks ago. He his doing great in every aspect of his field work, with the exception of his whoa training. I attribute this mostly due to the fact that he hasn't much experience with this command yet. He points, retrieves, and honors very well. He holds his points and is not inclined to bump birds, even when they creep a little. Do you think I should go ahead and really work hard on his whoa training even through out this hunting season or should I let him be a pup for another season and work on whoa next spring. I do whoa him now when he is on point and hold his collar and let my buddies flush the birds. All in all I am very happy with the way he is hunting, but I don't want him to disrupt any other dogs that he might be hunting with this year by not being able to whoa him on command when he might not see a point that they are on.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Kirk

Hello Kirk,

Whoa training is the basic element of pointing dog training. Almost every aspect of bird work is in some way connected to the elementary command "Whoa!". You'll be doing you and your dog a huge favor to teach whoa. Not to mention those folks who allow your dog to hunt with their experienced dogs.

You described holding his collar and reinforcing whoa while he is on point. That's a very good idea. Simply follow it up with yard work/field training and you're set. I would get my buddy to help if he has a nicely finished pointing dog that he trained and/or consult my local library for bird dog training books/videos.

Good Luck,

Dave Jones
Chief's Brittanys
http://www.brittanygundogs.com

For more information on Whoa Training, try:
Woah training early?
Unsteady in the field
Woah Training II
Creeping
Breaking after the fall
Whoa - how steady?
Steady to wing
Barrel training


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